For The Love of A Baby
by Pazel
Summary: Tamaki and Haruhi have their first child after a complicated pregnancy that almost kills both Haruhi and the baby. Tamaki watches his child grow up, and he learns to grow through his experiences as a father. RxR
1. Don't take the Girl

Throughout her entire pregnancy, Haruhi was still... Haruhi.

Her stomach got huge, and for almost a whole year, she was not the cute little Haruhi that I had fallen in love with, but a huge, swollen monster whose sole purpose in life was to order me around to fit her needs. She yelled and screamed and complained and ordered me like an evil dictator. But she went to work nonetheless, working in the courts putting her amazing brain and outstanding argumentative skills to work. I admired her, even when she was screaming at me to buy her ice cream or watermelon or the most coveted fancy tuna. I would send out the servants into the terrifyingly cold weather- for the baby was due in the early spring and so most of the pregnancy was in the winter- to get her demanded food.

And then, one night at around one in the morning, seven months along, her water broke. My first though was, _our baby is ready to meet us! _While the limo drove us to the hospital, I called each member of the Host Club.

When we got there, she was immediately rushed to the ER. There was blood everywhere and it was two months too early for the baby. Haruhi yelled out in pain, but she never once got angry at me or yelled at me, like I expected. I thought that when the baby was born, she would yell at me like in the sitcoms and we would go home a happy family. When she didn't, I felt like I was falling, falling, falling and that I would never stop. I was pushed out of the delivery room to make room for all of the extra doctors.

I sat in the waiting room amongst happy family members waiting for their new baby with my arms crossed over my knees and my head buried in my arms. Tears gushed out of my eyes like raindrops from a storm cloud, huge, cold, and wet. At one point, it took too much muscle for me to sit in a chair and I fell out onto my hands and knees, although I didn't even notice it happened.

I felt two strange hands on my back. Without even looking up I sobbed, "she's going to die!". My arms gave out, and I rested on my head, ignoring the physical pain.

"Tono!" Hikaru cried, his voice calm but terrified. "What are you talking about?"

"It's only a little premature! These are the best doctors, so don't worry," Kaoru assured.

I looked up at them, and they grew pale.

"Are- are there other complications?" Kaoru asked very slowly.

I drew in a deep breath to calm myself, but I exhaled a loud sob. I gripped my arms and gritted my teeth. They were still very brittle. They needed me to be strong. I tried to compose myself, but the tears kept coming.

Thumping footsteps. Hikaru ran up to the nurse in charge and grabbed her by the collar. "Suou Haruhi! Tell me her situation!"

Kaoru left my side to pry his twin from the nurse. "Hikaru, stop that! Let go; it's not her fault!"

"There is a massive amount of bleeding," she stated sadly, "and the baby is very premature. It's not a safe time for either the mother or baby. It's very dangerous."

Hikaru backed up, the was at my side again. "It's ok, Tono. She'll b-"

"Haruhi! Where's my Haruhi?" another voice sang. I looked up to see Ranka with a huge teddy bear and flowers. "Tama-" He caught sight of me and froze. The presents slid from his weakening grasp and he let out a soft, "God, no." He ran over to me, and I couldn't help but notice that he had trampled on the beautiful bouquet of roses he had bought.

The twins went over it with him, and Kaoru pulled me up. He laid my head in his lap and cried on my shoulder. Somehow, I managed to fall asleep.

The next thing I heard was, "Tama-chan. Tama-chan, wake up!"

I opened my eyes to Honey-senpai- I never could get out of the habit of calling him that, it made me feel empty- bending over me with a worried look in his eyes. "Wh- Haruhi?!" I bolted upright to see the entire waiting room staring at me. The clock ticked three. AM? PM? I didn't know.

"Tama-chan, you're still crying," he said as a tear slid down his own chubby cheek. "It's ok. Haru-chan is ok. Do you want to see your baby now?"

I stood, shocked. The nurse led me to my wife's waiting room. She was in the hospital bed, sweaty, and wrapped in blankets that were still a little bloody. The sun came in brightly from the window and my stomach growled.

"Oh, Hi, Tamaki," she said when she saw me. The tears hadn't stopped yet, and she saw them. "Are you ok?"

I rushed to her and fell to my knees. I took her hand and kissed it so many times that she had to pull away out of annoyance.

"What?" she asked.

"I- I'm just glad you're ok."

She smiled at me. "I'm ok."

I spent the next few days with her in the hospital, but we didn't get to see the baby. The doctors were very conscious of their patients and reputation, and for several weeks, our child was out of our sight.

Two months later, we go the call that it was perfectly safe to take the child home. We hadn't yet found out the gender.

"I hope it's a boy!" I exclaimed on the way to the hospital. We had painted the room blue already, with mirrors on every wall. "I'll teach him to be a wonderful host! He'll learn to love women and treat them right, and I'll be his role model! He'll learn manners from me, and I'll teach him sports! He'll become a perfect man, just like me, and _not _like Hikaru or Kaoru!"

Haruhi just smiled softly the entire way there.

When we got into the hospital, Ranka was waiting for us, holding a beautiful baby swaddled in a soft pink blanket.

I froze. "It's a... girl?"


	2. I Saw God Today

Ranka's high heels _tap tap tapped _over to us, and the smallest living thing I had ever seen was plopped into my arms almost carelessly.

"I-I-I- What if I drop her?" I asked, standing still as stone and the baby slept. Her hair was a silky black, and I noticed where she had gotten it from right away.

"You won't," Haruhi assured me. "Don't be scared." She waddled over, her body still swollen and sore. I lowered my arms a little so Haruhi could look at the baby.

"Wake up," I whispered, rocking my arms a little forcefully to nudge her awake. She opened her shiny dark eyes slowly.

Ranka held out his hands. "No, don't do th-"

And she started screaming.

Ranka sighed. "Too late."

The baby cried and cried, her little mouth opening to let out a pitiful shrill.

"Eh? Haruhi!" I yelled, holding out the screaming baby, "what do I do? How do I make it stop?"

The cry was running though me like a lightening bolt, when suddenly Haruhi took the baby from my arms and rocked her gently.

"Shhh," she whispered, and the baby began to fall back to sleep. She looked down at our daughter with a look I remembered my mother giving me. I could only smile as I pictured my own mother, who had raised me like a prized possession.

I pulled out my camera and snapped a shot.

Haruhi looked up at me sharply. "Tamaki, did you _have _to do that?" she snapped.

"Wh- but you looked so peaceful!" I protested.

"You're going to wake her up!" she growled through her teeth.

I put the camera back in my pocket and looked over Haruhi's shoulder. "Let's name her... Kotoko."

Haruhi looked up at me, and I thought she was going to scold me again, but she only smiled.

Ranka, I noticed, was smiling too. "Then there is only one suitable middle name," he said.

"Yes," Haruhi agreed. "Anne-Sophie."

I hadn't expected this, and the picture of my mother's face came back to me once again. "Kotoko Anne-Sophie Suou. Isn't that too long? We don't have to do that."

Haruhi shook her head. "It's perfect."

We took Kotoko Anne-Sophie Suou home, and Ranka stayed the night. He slept int he nursery, along with two of the maids who immediately fell in love with the baby and Haruhi and I.

In the middle of the night, I was awoken by a loud cry. I immediately rushed over to the crib.

"What's wrong?" I panicked. I didn't know why the baby was awake, but the way she cried made it sound like she was dying. "Is she sick? Is she in pain? I'll call a doctor!"

When I was halfway out of the room I heard Ranka shout, "Tamaki, shut up. She's hungry, not dying." He turned to his daughter and asked softly, "Haruhi, can you do it?"

"Yeah," my wife answered sleepily as she pulled the baby out of the crib and a pulled her shirt up.

Kotoko latched on to her and drank, while I stood there absolutely dumbstruck.

I had never seen a baby breast feed before, but it was beautiful and magical. Haruhi didn't complain, although she winced once in a while, which led me to believe it hurt a little. Within a few minutes, Haruhi burped Kotoko and put her back to sleep after a small fuss. The entire room fell into quiet and back to sleep, but I stayed up a little longer looking at Haruhi. I was so proud of her.

When morning came, I was the first one awake.

I looked into the crib, and it was empty.

Babies don't just get up an walk around. She must have been kidnapped in our sleep!

I ran downstairs, completely ready to see the doors smashed in and a terrible ransom note for my beautiful and helpless Kotoko, but all I saw was Honey-senpai and Mori-senpai with Kotoko on their laps.

"Oh, Tama-chan!" Honey-senpai exclaimed. "Good morning!"

I sighed with relief. "Good... morning, Honey-senpai. I'm so glad. I thought someone had kidnapped Kotoko."

"Her name is Kotoko?" Honey-senpai inquired.

"Yes," I answered slowly, still tired, "after Haruhi's mother. Then her middle name is Anne-Sophie, after mine."

Honey-senpai's eyes widened with delight. "I love it, Tama-chan! She's beautiful."

"Thanks. I'm surprised you're here so early. You like to sleep in."

"I told Takashi to bring me here early, even if I fought or cried or whatever. I wanted to meet the baby by ourselves," he explained, waving Usa-chan in front of Kotoko. "I think she has a dirty diaper."

"Oh. What do I do?"

"You don't know how to change a diaper, Tamaki?"

I shook my head.

Honey shrugged. "Me, neither. Do you, Takashi?"

"No."

"I didn't think so."

I took Kotoko and brought her to the downstairs changing table by the stairs. "I'll do it."

Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai watched over my shoulder as I unsnapped Kotoko's onesie and took off her tiny diaper. I tried to pull it down her legs, but it stayed tight.

"I think you have to undo it bu those little straps there," Honey-senpai explained.

I examined the diaper and found what he was talking about. I pulled the plastic straps and the diaper unfolded by itself with the weight.

Honey-senpai recoiled. "Ewwww."

I gulped and breathed through my mouth. I rolled the dirty diaper up and threw it away, then wiped her up with a towelette.

"Front to back!" Honey-senpai exclaimed.

I did as he said and Mori-senpai got out another tiny diaper.

"Don't forget the powder!" Honey-senpai chirped.

Right next to Kotoko's little hip was a small bottle of baby powder, which I opened and shook until her rump was covered in white. Then I pulled her upwards and slid the diaper underneath her and stretched the straps behind her.

Honey-senpai frowned. "I think it's on backwards."

I laughed as I resnapped the onesie. "What are you talking about?" I picked my daughter up, and her head fell forward. "It's fine!" I exclaimed as I moved her into a safer position.

Haruhi looked over the banister with a nervous smile. "Good job, Tamaki," she said. "Even though you messed up."

"What, are you kidding?" I asked "It's great!"

My wife just rolled her eyes.

We ate breakfast, and the rest of the hosts came through the house. We had a guest for every meal, but that was no big deal.

"So," Kyoya said as he patted his mouth with his napkin after dinner, "will you be in work tomorrow?"

"Yeah," I answered, "the maids will be here if anything goes wrong."

"You can always take more time off, you know."

"Nonsense! I'll be back tomorrow!"

We said goodbye to Kyoya about an hour later, and Haruhi turned to me. "I still can't believe you started up that business with Kyoya."

"Well, he abandoned to Ootori group, remember? I wasn't going to just let him go off on his own. I didn't want the Suoh company, anyway. Kyoya likes owning at a hotel chain, and I don't mind it. We get stars and models, and all sorts of people. And now I get to send money back to Mother with no restrictions! She'll be coming this summer when it's warm to meet Kotoko." I beamed. I was so happy my mother could meet my daughter.

"She's really nice, and she's so beautiful. I remember when I first met her. She looks just like you, but you act like your father." Haruhi looked down on Kotoko in her arms with a motherly smile. "I'm just happy you get talk to your mom more often."

I took in a deep breath. "Me, too. Hey, Haruhi?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to bring Kotoko to meet my grandmother."

Haruhi took a while to answer me. "Ok."

Three weeks later, I visited my elderly grandmother. I sat by her bedside, where she was forced to stay, holding my daughter.

"Look, Grandmother! My daughter."

My grandmother gave her one look and recoiled. "At least it was in wedlock."

I smiled, although that had stung a little. I wished she would accept me. I never meant to be born out of wedlock. I just had to work harder to gain her acceptance. I knew she'd love me when she got to know me! "Yes, grandmother."

"She's nice. What do you want? To be in my will?"

I was surprised. I knew I wasn't in her will at all, and I didn't need to be. I didn't want to think of her dying, not before she came to love me! "No, why?"

Grandmother closed her eyes. "Then leave."

"What?"

"You've disowned the Suoh family."

I took a step backwards. "I haven't! I have the Suoh name! I don't want to-"

"You have! By leaving us heirless, you have."

I almost cried. "Gr-"

"Hey!" Haruhi yelled. She stood up and glared at my grandmother. "He wanted to make you proud! Let's go, Tamaki!" she demanded, pulling me out of the main mansion.

When we were back in the limo, she looked at me. "Are you ok?"

Kotoko cooed in my arms and I smiled. "Yes!"

* * *

**Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reviews! I'm updating so quickly because I don't have much time. Who knows the next time I'll get the next chapter up?**


	3. Butterfly Kisses

"Happy fifth birthday, Kotoko Anne-Sophie!" I yelled as my daughter ran into my bedroom at the crack of dawn like a cute little rooster.

Haruhi rolled over. "Let's go back to sleep, ok? I have a huge trial in a few hours."

"Mommy, are you sti' sdeepy?" Kotoko Anne-Sophie asked, her long black hair disheveled from sleep and her sticky, stubby finger poking Haruhi's forehead.

"Mmhmm," Haruhi replied monotonously.

I jumped out of bed. "Kotoko Anne-Sophie," I whispered, "let's go downstairs to celebrate while Mommy sleeps."

"Ok, Daddy!" my daughter agreed, and I held her small hand in mine as we walked down the stairs in our pajamas and bare feet.

The maids were waiting for us when we reached the bottom. "Happy birthday, Kotoko!" they chimed sweetly. Across the whole front of the mansion was a large banner reading "Happy Birthday, Princess!" and a cake was waiting, chocolate, of course, with pink frosting and plastic figures of Kotoko Anne-Sophie's favorite anime characters, Chihiro and Haku from Spirited Away.

"Wow!" she breathed and ran to her huge cake, dragging me along. "It's so pretty! Daddy, do you see?"

I laughed. "I see it, Kotoko Anne-Sophie." I looked down at her with my hands on my hips. "Do you want some for breakfast?"

"M-master Tamaki! Do you really think that's appropriate? Your wife may not agree," Hana, Kotoko Anne-Sophie's nanny stuttered.

"It's fine! It's a birthday treat. Go ahead, Princess." I nudged my daughter toward the cake, and Hana cut a small piece.

"But I insist a normal breakfast, Master Tamaki!" she shouted nervously.

"Alright, if you insist," I answered nonchalantly. "How about waffles _a la mode?_"

"Master Tamaki!" Hana complained, but I put my hand up.

"Don't be so silly. One day will be fine." I knelt to my daughter's height. "Right?"

"Right! Waff'es a da mode!"

I smiled and breakfast was put on the table. Kotoko Anne-Sophie and I sat down next to each other alone for some daddy-daughter bonding time.

"Duddy," Kotoko Anne-Sophi asked with her mouth full of cake, "why d'you caw me by my who'e name?"

I wiped the cake off of her face and said, "because it reminds me of my mother."

Kotoko Anne-Sophie kicked her legs as she gobbled down the rest of the cake. "Oh, ok. When do we get to see grandmère again?"

"In the summer I've planned a trip for her to come."

"Can we go to France?"

"Some day. But your Mommy is busy, and I have to work, too. We'll see when, ok?"

Kotoko Anne-Sophie sighed sadly and ate the ice cream off of her waffles. "I don't want any more," she said, rubbing her eyes and stretching.

I drove with her to school that day. The chauffeur came to a smooth stop in front of Ouran, and memories began to play through my mind like an old movie. Kotoko Anne-Sophie held onto my jacket.

"What's the matter, Kotoko Anne-Sophie?" I asked. "You've been here before. Go play with your friends."

She looked out the window, then up at me with scared eyes.

"What's wrong? Do you not like it here?" I looked over her head through the window, where a young boy was walking over the campus and toward the school.

She smiled. "No, I dove it here!" she jumped out of the car and ran towards the school.

"Don't drive away yet," I ordered as the chauffeur switched gears.

As she jumped up the stairs, the little boy around her own age pushed her. She fell down two stairs, and I rushed out of the door.

"Hey!" I screamed at the boy, who turned to me and ran into the building. I picked up Kotoko Anne-Sophie, whose knees were bleeding, and felt a rage in me I hadn't felt since I thought those thugs had hurt Haruhi during the movie Renge was making when I was a junior in high school.

I held my princess like a baby and chased after the boy, who took a sharp turn into a classroom. I ignored the classroom and went straight to the infirmary, where the nurse patched up Kotoko Anne-Sophie's knees and gave her a lollipop to stop her tears.

"Kotoko Anne-Sophie, can you tell me who that boy was?" I asked my child gently.

She nodded and hopped off of the table she had been sitting on. She grabbed my hand and led me to her classroom, where the boy had run into. She pointed to him and said, "Pierre!"

The boy looked up at us with an astonished and terrified look on his face.

I stomped over to him and looked down at him. "Apologize to my daughter!" I yelled.

The teacher walked over to me. "Tamaki? What's going on here?"

I looked at the teacher. She was new, and I only knew her through my father. "He pushed my daughter down the stairs!"

"Tattle!" Pierre yelled at Kotoko Anne-Sophie. I noticed his thick French accent

"Shut up, Pierre Dangerfie'd! I am not!" Kotoko Anne-Sophie yelled back.

"Dangerfield?" I whispered to myself. "The son of Eclair Tonnerre and Francis Dangerfield?"

Pierre stood up. "Yeah, Suoh! And I know you. You rejected my Mère!"

"And what does that have to do with my princess?" I asked, flailing my arms.

He smiled slyly, and I immediately knew I wouldn't like this kid.

"I'm just making your daughter pay for your sins."

"Why are you in Japan?" I asked him. He was a child, and I was not about to become unnecessarily violent with a child barely old enough to speak.

"Mère is working here," Pierre said. "So I'm to go to Ouran."

After a short talk with Kotoko Anne-Sophie, I promised I'd be there the moment school was over. Until then, I ordered the chauffeur to take me to Kyoya.

"Where is Eclair staying?" I asked him solemnly.

"How did you find out she was in Japan?" he asked, not looking up from his black notebook.

"Her son is bullying Kotoko Anne-Sophie. He pushed her down the stairs."

Kyoya slammed his notebook closed and his eyes darted up to me. "I'll deal with this."

I went to work, where I was in charge of advertisement and interior design. Our hotel chain was on the top of the world. They were not for the low or even the middle class, although Kyoya had been negotiating to make a few beautiful, but more affordable, hotels. I worked with the news papers and magazines and commercials that were repeat advertisers, while Kyoya worked with the newer ones. He negotiated prices and I worked the people. We made a perfect team, and split the profits fifty-fifty.

I left early to pick up Kotoko Anne-Sophie. The limo pulled up just as the school bell rang, and the little girl was almost immediately at the door. Her little red dress, the uniform of the kindergarten, showed her knees. She had worn white tights, but they were ripped and bloody, so the nurse had thrown them out.

"Daddy, I made this for you!" she yelled, holding up a lopsided and unsteady picture of a heart.

I kissed her head. "It's beautiful."

When we got home, I left her in the care of Hana and went back to work.

When I got home, it was dinner. Haruhi had put away all of her work to eat dinner with us. I sat down as my cell phone went off.

"Hello, Kyoya," I said into the phone.

"I talked to Eclair," he informed me. "She promised to have a talk with her son. Or else. I still have connections with the Ootori police, remember?" He chuckled darkly.

"Kyoya, thank you."

"Of course. Someone messes with your daughter, they mess with the entire Host Club, you know. I've informed everyone else. They're ready to spring on the Tonnerre empire as well and the Dangerfield empire the moment Pierre hurts your daughter."

I smiled. "Thank you. And tell everyone I said thank you."

"Actually, I think you can tell them that yourself."

"What?"

"Well, we're naturally coming for Kotoko's birthday."

Then, the bell rang. That's when I remembered it was Kotoko's birthday. With all the fuss, I had forgotten.

"Well, we're here," Kyoya said.

I closed the phone as the rest of the Host Club plowed into the house.

"Kotoko!" Hikaru screamed, holding a large box. "Happy Birthday!"

Everyone else ran in, holding huge, shiny birthday presents.

Kotoko Anne-Sophie clapped her hands happily. "Yay!"

Everyone inquired after her hurt knees, and she assured them she was fine.

"I'm glad," Kaoru said, giving her a birthday kiss.

We all sat down, and the maids brought out more food and another cake. They knew Honey-senpai too well to know that one cake would be enough for him.

"Happy birthday," Mori-senpai said, patting Kotoko Anne-Sophie's head fondly.

Kotoko Anne-Sophie smiled. "Thanks!"

That night, I tucked my daughter into bed as Haruhi looked through case files in the study. "I love you, Kotoko Anne-Sophie."

"I dove you too, Daddy," Kotoko Anne-Sophie yawned.

I twisted a small music box that began playing a lullaby while horses turned round on a carousel. I turned off the light and left her room.


	4. The Best Day

Kotoko Anne-Sophie stomped through the house and slammed the doors.

"Hard day at school?" I asked. It was five in the afternoon, a little late for school, but she must have been playing with her friends.

She let out a loud, annoyed groan. "Stupid Pierre said I have cooties!" she squeaked. "Cooties are so stupid! What is he, five? Now none of the guys will even talk to me! Not even my friends!"

"Cooties?" I asked.

Kotoko Anne-Sophie's long black hair swayed with her dramatic movements. "Yes! He's so stupid!

I jutted out my bottom lip. "I never liked him, anyway."

Haruhi came down the stairs softly with a small laugh. She was thirty-four now, and my daughter was ten. Haruhi had grown her hair out to her chin, where it curled in delicately. Her body hadn't grown an inch up or out, and she could not only fit into her wedding dress perfectly, but her high school uniform as well. Her face was matured, but as beautiful as the most elegant rose.

Kotoko Anne-Sophie flopped down onto the large sofa. "He's so stupid! When is he going back to France, Daddy?"

"That's what I'd like to know," I muttered. He had hurt my baby for the last time!

"He'll be staying here. The Dangerfield empire has moved its main building from France to Japan," Haruhi said as she sat down next to Kotoko Anne-Sophie. "But it's ok. Summer starts today, so you won't have to see him."

Just then, the doorbell rang. The butler opened the door to a beautifully aging woman, with long blond and silver hair. A large yellow dog ran past the woman and into the house.

"Grandmère!" Kotoko Anne-Sophie yelled, running into the woman's accepting arms.

"Mère!" I yelled, my voice cracking like a child's. I ran at the woman full speed, grabbing her by the slender waist and picking her up.

"Tamaki!" she cooed as I kissed her loving hand. "Mon chéri, it's wonderful to see you again!"

"Hello," Haruhi said with a respectful bow.

Mère grabbed her into a hug. "We're family, Haruhi. Please don't treat me so formally."

Haruhi smiled and placed a kiss on Mére's cheek. "Of course, Mére. Come inside."

I guided Mére into the mansion and sat her down on the sofa. A few men with her luggage followed and brought her things to her room upstairs. "Are you hungry? Thirsty? Tired?"

"No," Mére said, "but I would love to hear you play piano for me. That was all I was thinking about the entire trip here." She let out a small chain of light coughs.

"Mére, has the city bothered your illness?" I asked.

"Close the windows!" Haruhi ordered. "Turn on the central air system! Let's keep the pollution out!" The maids all scattered and closed each window. The hum of the central air began, slowly and softly.

Mére laughed. "I'm just getting a little old."

"You're not that old," I told her.

A few more coughs and a joyful smile. "I'm in my sixties, mon chéri."

"Alright, Mére. I love you."

"I love you, too, Tamaki."

Kotoko Anne-Sophie sat on Mére's lap. "Grandmére!" she exclaimed, laying her head on the older woman's shoulders, "I missed you. I wish you were here more."

"I do, too, ma chére."

Then, the bell rang again, and all of our heads turned toward the door. The butler opened them to a young and familiar boy.

"Hey! Kotoko! Miss Cooties!" he yelled. This time, there was no French accent behind his words.

Pierre was pointing straight at my daughter, laughing. "Cooties, cooties, cooties!" he chanted at her, and then ran away. The sound of his laughter echoed in our ears for a while.

"Pierre, you're so stupid!" Kotoko Anne-Sophie yelled. She ran up to her room and slammed the door closed.

Mére giggled softly. "It seems _someone _has a crush on your beautiful daughter."

My jaw dropped. "C-crush? On Kotoko Anne-Sophie?" My head shook violently. "No! Not that boy!"

Haruhi shrugged. "Some boys do act that way. I saw it a lot at school. They want to get the girl's attention."

"No!" I screamed. "He has to stay away from Kotoko Anne-Sophie! He's a mean bully, Haruhi!"

She gave me a skeptical look.

"Haruhi!" I flailed my arms around to show the extent of my passion on the subject in a physical form. "He's a bully! He'll try to steal Kotoko Anne-Sophie then break her heart! Haruhi! He's not a good host at all!"

Mére made a _tsk tsk _sound. "Mon chéri, I don't think all men are princely."

"My daughter can have nothing but the best!"

Mére sighed. "All right, but please play your mother the piano."

I calmed down and shuffled to the piano to obey my mother's wish. The piano was a sleek black and reflected the entire room in its surface. I sat down on the bench and flipped up the lip. The keys were unscratched and as white as paper; as black as the country night sky.

I stretched my fingers and laid them over the keys. The sound that followed was enchanting and elegant, like a ballroom dancer. The music twisted and turned slowly and perfectly, then came dancing to a slow end.

"Oh, mon chéri! That was beautiful." She wiped a tear from her eye. "It's been so long since I've heard you play."

Haruhi sat next to Mére with a quiet smile. I noticed it and exclaimed, "Haruhi! Did you like it, too?" I desperately wanted her approval for everything I did. Nothing had any real meaning if she was not fully pleased.

Haruhi nodded. "It was great."

"I liked it, too, Daddy."

I stretched to look through the doorway to see Kotoko Anne-Sophie on the staircase. "Thank you."

"Can you teach me?"

"Yeah. Come sit here."

For the whole night, I taught her _Mary Had a Little Lamb _and _Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star _until she could play them interchangeably and by herself. Then, we went to sleep.

The next morning, I woke up to the smell of nostalgia. Like every morning for the month of summer vacation Kotoko Anne-Sophie had, the room smelled like the home I had lived in until I was fourteen. Each morning, my mother would make me breakfast long before I had even woken up. The entire mansion seemed to be on fire with the smell of sausages and toast and eggs that were unlike any sausages or toast or eggs that the maids cooked.

What my mother made smelled like home. It smelled like a small cottage amid a forest of roses and other flowers, with a small wood stove for heat and Hummels along every wooden shelf. It smelled like a clear summer day without a cloud in sight. It smelled like my neighbors walking by with their baby carriage- oh! that baby must be out of college by now. It smelled like all of the love I could ever hope for and all of the love I could ever give. It smelled like my most cherished person in the world- my mother.

I walked downstairs to see my mother at the stove, and I smiled, because I felt fourteen again. For a second, all of my memories of the past twenty-one years were stashed away in the closet of my mind like clutter is fifteen minutes before company arrives.

"Mére!" I exclaimed, rushing downstairs. Before my eyes, the woman is in her early thirties again, looking not a day over twenty.

"Tamaki!" she called back joyfully, waving to me. "Are you hungry?"

I ran to her side. "It looks good!"

We sat down at the kitchen table together. Our table was small for our mansion. I was so much happier sitting all close together- actually, I preferred a kotatsu to a kitchen table, but Haruhi said that having one would make it inconvenient for our wealthy guests. It didn't go with the western decor, she argued.

We have one in every living room, though.

I sat to the right of my mother, who sat at the head. "How have you been doing recently, Tamaki?"

The smile I felt on my face was warm; it mirrored the one on my Mére's face. "I've been fine, Mére. How are you?"

"Daddy?" Kotoko Anne-Sophie yawned as she walked in, popping my trance and bringing me back to the real world. "I'm hungry, too. Can I have some?"

"Of course, ma chére!" Mére cried, making her a plate.

An overwhelming happiness filled me, and I pulled my daughter onto my lap. I kissed her smooth cheek. "Good morning, princess."

"Good morn-"

She was interrupted by the butler. "Tamaki-sama, you have guests waiting. Shall I allow them in?"

I let Kotoko Anne-Sophie off my lap and stood. I was in my pajamas, but I figured the guest, coming at seven in the morning, would have expected that. "Yes."

Eclair Tonnerre walked in, her hands placed gingerly on her son's shoulders. She bowed respectively to my Mére.

"I've heard," she said, "that my son has been causing problems for you again. Is that right, Pierre?" She bent to look him eye-to-eye, but he kept his eyes on Kotoko Anne-Sophie.

"It's not _my _fault she has cooties," he grumbled.

"My daughter does not have cooties!" I yelled back.

Eclair laughed. "You're the same as always, I see."

Haruhi hopped down the stairs, and everyone turned to look at her. She stopped short when she saw Eclair.

Eclair hadn't aged a day. Her eyes were a bright blue and her hair was a light brown. She still looked seventeen.

Haruhi straightened and walked down the stairs with an odd air of dignity and uneasiness. She played with her messy hair and tugged at her shirt as she came through the hallway into the kitchen. "Are you here because of your son?" Haruhi asked sternly.

Eclair laughed. "Of course. Why else would I be? To steal your husband? It's a little late for that."

Haruhi frowned.

I smiled. "Are you jealous, Haruhi?"

She turned to me. "No."

"Cruel," I grumbled.

"Anyway," Eclair began, "I'm here to see that Pierre apologizes."

"I won't apologize to her!" the boy complained. He pointed at Kotoko Anne-Sophie, who was eating breakfast and watching the scene. "She's not a lady at all! Look at her! She's a mess!"

"I just woke up, butthead!" she retorted.

"Miss Cooties!"

"Stupid!"

"Ugly!"

"Mean!"

"Girl!"

"Foreigner!"

My mother and I looked at her. When she felt our eyes, she blushed deeply and whispered a quick, "sorry."

Mére laughed. "It's fine. Since you're here, why don't you sit down for breakfast?"

Eclair's smile didn't wrinkle her eyes. "No, we should be going. Come along, Pierre."

Pierre took one look back to stick his tongue out at Kotoko Anne-Sophie, who spit in a napkin and threw it at him. It fluttered down a few feet in front of her.

He laughed, and was ushered out.

I ran my hands through my hair. "Geez, why is that boy doing this?"

Kotaoko Anne-Sophie shrugged. "I dunno. He's been like this ever since I told him I wouldn't be his girlfriend."

My jaw his the floor. "W-what?"

"He asked me to be his girlfriend, but I said no."

"B-but, you're ten!" I looked frantically between Mére and Haruhi, who were expressionless. "Tell me you're not surprised!" I yelled.

"Well, kids start early," Haruhi said monotonously.

"Girls were in love with you since the day you _went _to school," Mére explained.

I disregarded their statements. "When was _this_?"

Kotoko Anne-Sophie shrugged. "The day before he pushed me down the stairs in kindergarten." She took a bite of her sausage. "An' a fu' times every year since den."

My eyes bulged, and I was speechless.

"Why did you say no, Ma chére?" Mére asked her.

Kotoko Anne-Sophie took a bite of her toast. "Because, I wahn'o marry Duddy."

That statement put me immediately at ease.

"Here it comes," I heard Haruhi mutter, but I ignored her.

"What a smart girl I've raised!" I exclaimed. The happiness inside me swelled, and I paced the room, twisted, twirled, and made several different hand gestures to put my happiness into a physical form. "A man like me is too inadequate for the adoration he receives." I fell to my knees and hugged myself. "I'm just a humble man of God, living my humble life, and all around me are girls, throwing their love onto me, like blankets to a fire! Oh, how do I deserve that?" I looked to the ceiling, feeling a little closer to God. "It's the will of God, the will of God."

"She's your daughter, you sick pervert," Haruhi muttered.

I ignored her.

* * *

**There will be three, possibly four, more chapters. Please review so I know you're all still reading! You know writers can't write without encouragement. xD**


	5. She's in Love with a Boy

"Daddy!" Kotoko Anne-Sophie called from the top of the stairs. "Are you ready?"

Pierre looked up from where he had been sitting on the couch, his hands clasped nervously and his light green eyes traveling slowly from the floor to the stairs through the door frame. He looked to his right, where Haruhi was sitting. She gave him her motherly smile, but I just stared daggers into him from where I stood next to the doorway.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, and I heard the light _tapping _of dainty high-heeled slippers on the marble stairs.

Then, Kotoko Anne-Sophie was in the doorway, and I felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me.

Her dark black hair was up in a messy bun with thin strands of curls down her back. Around her bun was a small princess crown. Her dress was wine-colored, a deep red which came around her chest and hugged her bust, then came down her body to the floor- a Hitachiin original. By her butt the dress gathered a little to give it a small wrinkle effect.

Pierre and Haruhi stood up and walked toward her.

"You look beautiful," they whispered simultaneously.

She blushed. "Thanks. Uhm, what do you think, Daddy?"

I could not answer her. No words made it to my mind, and for the third time in my life, I knew exactly what love was.

The first was when I married Haruhi.

The second was when I held Kotoko Anne-Sophie for the first time.

The third time was when I saw my beloved daughter all dressed up to go out with another man.

I looked away, because I didn't want Pierre to see me crying. They started slowly at first, but then my tears poured out like a faucet.

"Wh- what's wrong, Daddy?" Kotoko Anne-Sophie asked me.

"You're so beautiful!" I squeaked, rubbing my eyes on my sleeve. "Absolutely sublime!"

I heard the smile in my daughter's voice when she said, "thank you".

The professional photographer we had hired took a few pictures of them in the house, then they left and got into the long white limo, laughing, and drove away.

Hours went by and I paced back and forth in front of the antique grandfather clock which stuck midnight. I jumped, startled, and continued pacing.

_Where is she? Where _is _she? _I wondered.

Haruhi sat on the couch, knitting. It was a hobby she had picked up recently, and she was making her third scarf.

"Haruhi!" I whined. "Why isn't she home yet? It's midnight! She promised to be home by now!"

"It's _prom night,_" Haruhi answered cynically. "She may be a little late. She's responsible, so don't be too worried. She isn't doing anything stupid; she's just having fun with her friends."

I growled. "I don't trust that boy."

"Pierre?" Haruhi asked. She chuckled a little. "He's grown a lot since he was ten. You just don't like him because he's taking up some space in Kotoko's life. Oh! Damn, I missed a stitch there."

"That's not true!" I exclaimed as Haruhi pulled the stitches out of her latest scarf. "I just don't... like... him."

Haruhi's eyes darted up to me through her glasses without moving her head, and then back down at her scarf. "Mmhmm."

Within the next hour, the door opened. Kotoko Anne-Sophie and Pierre drove up. She carried her shoes in her hand, and Pierre had his arm over her shoulders. I watched inconspicuously from the window as Pierre bent down to Kotoko Anne-Sophie's level. He placed his forehead against hers, whispered something that seemed _far too close _to "I love you" and then did something that made me fall to the floor.

He kissed her.

He _kissed _her.

_He _kissed her.

The doorknob turned as I yelled, "H-Haruhi!"

I ran to the first living room where she sat.

"Are they home?" she asked, putting her knitting aside.

I fell to my knees and put my head in her lap.

Haruhi put her hands on my back. "What's wr-"

"He kissed her!" I sobbed.

"Were you watching us?"

I looked up to see Kotoko Anne-Sophie and Pierre in the living room.

I jumped up, teary-eyed and pointing at Pierre. "Stay away from my daughter!" I yelled. "and get out of my house!"

Pierre stared me in the eyes for a second, but I narrowed mine. He whispered something in Kotoko Anne-Sophie's ear and I heard her whisper an apology to him as he left.

"Daddy!" she screamed at me when Pierre had closed the door behind him, "I hate you! You're so stupid! I'm seventeen; not a baby!" She threw her shoes at me and ran to her room.

The shoes hit me hard. I turned to Haruhi, who was staring at the spot where Kotoko Anne-Sophie had disappeared from.

"Well, am I wrong?" I asked, expecting her to back me up.

"Yes," she answered.

The next day was a Saturday, and so there was no school. Kotoko Anne-Sophie refused to leave her room, and Hana brought her meals to her room for her.

"Is she that mad at me?" I asked the maid as she brought Kotoko Anne-Sophie's dinner to her room.

Hana sighed. "She's embarrassed and hurt. Yes, she's pretty mad."

I moved my fork around my plate, moving the vegetables around in a circle so it would look like I had eaten them. "Does she... hate me?"

"Right now, yes. But you're not the first father to do this. And you won't be the last." Hana smiled at me. "She'll get over it. But you need to get over Pierre, too. She's pretty serious about him."

"She hated him three years ago," I grumbled. "When did it change?"

"Girls change quickly, Master Tamaki. Baby birds grow up, and you must let go and watch them fly away with their own wings. You can't keep them confined to a safe nest their entire lives."

I sighed. "I understand."

Hana laughed. "Do you?"

Monday came, and Kotoko Anne-Sophie still refused to talk to me. She walked by me on the stairs and out of the door to school.

"So you're depressed?" Kyouya asked.

I nodded from my spot in the corner.

"Well," he sighed, "maybe you should talk to Pierre yourself."

After school that day, I waited in Ouran's lobby wearing sunglasses as a disguise. Pierre and Kotoko Anne-Sophie came in, and I hid behind the staircase. They walked by me hand-in-hand, and I felt fury in my stomach.

"I understand that he doesn't like me," Pierre told her. "He's really protective. Don't get in a fight with him over this."

"But he was so mean to you!" she argued.

Pierre grabbed her by the shoulders. I thought it was a forceful action, and I almost ran out from my hiding spot when he said, "apologize to him."

Kotoko Anne-Sophie looked down at the floor. "Ok."

"Good," Pierre said. "Then I think I'll talk to..."

His voice drifted off as they got further away.

I waited for them to turn, and then I left. I had no reason to talk to Pierre.

He was already on my side.

That night, Kotoko Anne-Sophie came down and sat with us for dinner. We ate in silence, and when the plates were being taken away, she got up and walked over to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck from the back and gave me a kiss on the head. She stayed silent for a few seconds and then said, "I'm sorry".

I put my hands on her arms. "Me, too."

"Can you forgive Pierre?"

"Yes."

The next day, Pierre was in my house when I came home.

"Wh- why are you here?" I asked.

Kotoko Anne-Sophie looked up from her homework. "We're studying."

"No!" I yelled, almost crying. "Get that boy out of my house! Haruhi!"

Haruhi didn't answer in words, but I heard an annoyed sigh and the sound of feet shuffling down the hall then upstairs.

"Haruhi!" I yelled. "That's not fair! _Haruhi!_"


	6. I Loved Her First

I felt as if we hit each and every green light there was. The tinted windows of the limousine reflected its inside, and I saw Kotoko Anne-Sophie next to me. Her hair was done up half in a bun with the other half down around her shoulders. The veil on her head came down and around to the floor, and the white train of her wedding dress was so long that it took up the rest of the floor space and was even laid in the laps of her bridesmaids and I.

Tears poured down my eyes and she sighed and shook her head.

"Daddy, don't cry so much," she pleaded, "or I'll cry, too."

"Daddy can't help it!" I exclaimed. I couldn't even bare to look into her angelic eyes, those eyes that looked so much like Kotoko's, and, in turn, looked so much like her own mother's. "I don't want to have to give you away! I thought you wanted to marry Daddy! Besides, you're just barely an adult! You're only twenty-one! How can you take care of a husband if you can barely take care of yourself? What is Daddy going to _do_?"

"Oh, he's talking in third person, Kotoko!" her maid of honor, Hotaru Ootori, cooed. Like her father, she had a tall, thin body and glasses. Her hair was light brown like her mother's. She was almost seventeen, but was always Kotoko Anne-Sophie's best friend.

"I think it's cute!" Tori Haninozuka chimed in from the last seat to the left. Her blond hair bounced as she talked.

"Mmhmm," Sora Morinozuka grunted and pushed her black hair behind her ears. She sat right beside Tori. Following Mori-senpai and Honey-senpai's familys' tradition, Sora looked over Tori, but the sizes were reversed. Tori stood a tall 5'9" while Sora was a short 4'11".

Sora was the only child of Mori-senpai. She was younger than Tori by a year, making her seventeen. Tori, the only child of Honey-senpai, was eighteen and an illegitimate child, but the details of her mother was kept a deep secret from even the veterans of the Host Club- Honey-senpai's best friends. From what I could sense from Honey-senpai, he had fallen in love with some girl who hadn't loved him back and gotten hurt. It's no wonder why Mori-senpai told us it was taboo to bring it up.

Snickers came from across from me. I turned to see Eiko and Emiko Hitachiin. Eiko, the only daughter of Kaoru, had long brown hair and brown eyes, while Emiko, the oldest daughter of Hikaru, had his characteristics. They were both short, their sizes only differing by about an inch with Emiko as the taller of the two.

"What's so funny?" I sobbed.

"You're so silly, Uncle Tamaki," Eiko giggled. She was sixteen.

"Yeah. My dad better not do this at my wedding," Emiko said with an eye roll. She was only fourteen.

Then, the limo parked outside of a grand church, and I felt like my baby girl was slipping through my fingers like precious water. Before I knew it, we were in the church. Each of the bridesmaids walked down the isle with a groomsman. Hotaru walked down the isle with Pierre's best friend, and when the two parted ways at the altar, a simple song that brought me back twenty-two years began to play.

At that time, I was the happiest man alive.

When the music began to play this time, I was the most miserable.

"Let's go, Daddy!" Kotoko Anne-Sophie said in an impatient but gentle tone. I couldn't walk through the doors, but when I looked down at her, I noticed something.

She wasn't looking at me.

She stared through the doors as Pierre, who was staring right back, the two of them smiling at each other in a language that I could not understand, but that I recognized: the language of Love.

I took in a deep breath and whispered, "let's go."

We walked slowly, and I held on to those moments. Until the priest said otherwise, she was still my- _my- _Kotoko Anne-Sophie _Suoh_. I passed by Haruhi and noticed her crying. Emotionally, she was always stronger than me, and to see her tears made it that much harder for me to hold back my own.

We got to the altar, and I knew I had to let her go. It hurt, and I wanted to hold on, but that would be selfish.

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes, and she said, "I love you, Daddy."

She had told me those words so many times over her life that they had become habit to hear them. When she said them to me on her wedding day, looking away from the man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with and looking at me, I felt such intense pride in my daughter and such love for her that I hugged her and squeezed her tightly. "I love you, too, Princess."

I let her go and sat down, and I felt as if the next words I heard were her mumbling a nervous but loving, "I do." Then, the newlyweds kissed and the church cheered, and I found myself clapping in spite of myself.

Before I knew what happened, I was back in a limo with Kotoko Anne-Sophie Dangerfield. I cried the whole way to the reception.

Kotoko's western wedding had made her radiantly happy, and the reception magnified that happiness ten fold. We walked in to the hall, and I saw the room for the first time. I had been there before, but my eyes were always clouded with tears with the thoughts that I would soon lose my daughter to some other man. Now, my eyes were clear. I was still sad, but I was also so very happy for my daughter that I couldn't still find it in me to cry.

She sat next to her- and the word brought tears to my eyes- husband. The bridesmaids were to her right and the groomsmen to the left of the groom at the head of the the table.

The room was beautiful. There were flowers everywhere, red and white roses to compliment the red dresses of the bridesmaids. The room sparkled with little white Christmas lights instead of bright light bulbs. There were burning red candles on each table to make the mood more intimate.

The DJ, a sweet woman in her late forties, called everyone's attention to something very important- the first dance as husband and wife.

The two came onto the dance floor and held each other tightly. The music began, a beautiful, simple song in English called "My Wish" by Rascal Flatts. They moved together gracefully, staring into the other's eyes as if they held the blueprints for the rest of their lives. I was dumbstruck at the expressions on their faces. Kotoko Anne-Sophie had never smiled like that for me, her father. I suppose I was jealous, but I was also eternally grateful to be able to see two beautiful people so very much in love.

"Tamaki, are you ok?"

I turned to see Haruhi. She placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah, why?"

"You're crying."

I placed my fingers to my cheeks and felt the tears. I hadn't even noticed. "I'm just happy," I said with a smile.

Haruhi gave me a skeptical look, but it faded into a knowing smile, almost sarcastic in its understanding but completely candid in emotion. "I'll miss her, too. But she's so happy. I felt the same way, when I, you know," she blushed, "married you."

My smile turned into a huge grin. "Really? Did you?"

Haruhi rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered.

I turned to the dance floor just as the DJ said over the mic, "time for the daddy-daughter dance, everybody!"

I looked up at the couple on the stage. Pierre gave me a smile and stepped away from my daughter. I stood up out of my chair and walked over to her, grasped her hand, and the speakers began with a song so true to my own feelings that I was surprised when I did not cry.

_ Look at the two of you dancing that way  
Lost in the moment and each other's face  
So much in love your alone in this place  
Like there's nobody else in the world  
I was enough for her not long ago  
I was her number one  
She told me so  
And she still means the world to me  
Just so you know  
So be careful when you hold my girl  
Time changes everything  
Life must go on  
And I'm not gonna stand in your way_

But I loved her first and I held her first  
And a place in my heart will always be hers  
From the first breath she breathed  
When she first smiled at me  
I knew the love of a father runs deep  
And I prayed that she'd find you someday  
But it's still hard to give her away  
I loved her first

How could that beautiful women with you  
Be the same freckled-faced kid that I knew  
The one that I read all those fairy tales to  
And tucked into bed all those nights  
And I knew the first time I saw you with her  
It was only a matter of time

But I loved her first and I held her first  
And a place in my heart will always be hers  
From the first breath she breathed  
When she first smiled at me  
I knew the love of a father runs deep  
And I prayed that she'd find you someday  
But it's still hard to give her away  
I loved her first  
_ From the first breath she breathed  
When she first smiled at me  
_

I stopped dancing. The sounds around me melted into a beautiful melody of another man who felt exactly the same way as I did.

_I knew the love of a father runs deep  
_

"Daddy?"

I just stared down at my beautiful angel that God had sent me and smiled. She looked back up at me, at first worried, but then began to smile herself.

_ Someday you might know what I'm going through  
_

We just stood there in each other's arms, because we both knew we'd have to part after this day.

_ When a miracle smiles up at you  
_

"Kotoko Anne-Sophie, you've become a beautiful person, and I'm so proud of you."

Kotoko Anne-Sophie began to cry happily. "Thanks, Daddy."

_ I loved her first_

Life would never bee the same. As the reception ended and people slowly left at different times, I knew life was taking a drastic turn, and my heart hurt from the tears I wanted to cry but wouldn't.

"Tamaki, mon chéri. I felt the same way at your wedding as you do now," my mother told me when everyone else was gone. Kotoko Anne-Sophie was talking with Pierre in the corner, and occasionally their lips would meet lovingly.

Soon, Kotoko Anne-Sophie and Pierre left for their honeymoon, and it was only Haruhi, Eclair, Francis, and I left.

"Today was quite lovely," Eclair told me.

"Thanks, but Kotoko Anne-Sophie picked it all out."

"He really loves her."

"She loves him, too."

Eclair crossed her arms as Francis came up behind her. "Let's be family now, Tamaki. I'm too old for childish games and scorn."

I smiled happily. "I'd love that."

Haruhi coughed from behind me. We turned to look at her, and she walked over to Eclair and held out her hand.

Eclair took it, and they shook.

Haruhi smiled softly. "Welcome to the family."

**The End**

**

* * *

**I do not own any of the music in this chapter or in the chapter titles.


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